Tip shrouded blade

ABSTRACT

A tip shrouded blade includes an airfoil rotatable about an axial centerline. Also included is a tip shroud connected at a radially outer tip of the airfoil, wherein the tip shroud includes at least one portion angled about a tangential axis defined by the radially outer tip of the airfoil.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to turbine systems, and more particularly to tip shrouds.

Gas turbine buckets or blades are airfoil-shaped components designed to convert thermal and kinetic energy of flow gases into mechanical rotation of the rotor. Turbine performance may be enhanced by providing a seal at the tip of the airfoil to block the flow of air over the tip of the airfoil which would otherwise bypass the airfoil and thus not perform any work on the rotor. Thus, such tip seals reduce the gap between the bucket and the surrounding stationary casing.

Typically a tip shroud is provided to the tip of the airfoil and adjacent turbine buckets are aligned in a cold assembly condition. However, during hot operating conditions, the tip shrouds tend to have some degree of misalignment. Radial misalignment between two adjacent shrouds will cause obstruction in a main flow path, leading to inefficiency and possibly disengagement. Tangential misalignment will lead to a leakage area for air that therefore does not perform work on the rotor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a tip shrouded blade includes an airfoil rotatable about an axial centerline. Also included is a tip shroud connected at a radially outer tip of the airfoil, wherein the tip shroud includes at least one portion angled about a tangential axis defined by the radially outer tip of the airfoil.

According to another aspect of the invention, a tip shrouded blade includes an airfoil extending away from and rotatable about an axial centerline. Also included is a tip shroud provided at a tip of the airfoil, wherein the tip shroud is tilted about a tangential axis and twisted about a radial axis.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a turbine system having at least one row of circumferentially aligned tip shrouded blades includes a first turbine bucket having a first airfoil. Also included is a first tip shroud provided at an outer tip of the first airfoil, wherein the first tip shroud is angled about a tangential axis defined by the outer tip of the first airfoil. Further included is a second turbine bucket having a second airfoil disposed adjacent to the first airfoil. Yet further included is a second tip shroud provided at an outer tip of the second airfoil, wherein the second tip shroud is angled to correspond to the first tip shroud during a steady state operation of the turbine system.

These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a turbine bucket;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a first tip shroud and an adjacent second tip shroud;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a rear portion of the first tip shroud and a front portion of the second tip shroud; and

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the rear portion of the first tip shroud and the front portion of the second tip shroud.

The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a gas turbine bucket 10 is illustrated and includes an airfoil 12. The airfoil 12 intercepts a flow of gases that are generated by, and delivered from, upstream components within a turbine system, such as a compressor and combustor (each not illustrated). The airfoil 12 functions as a windmill vane to convert the energy of the flow of gases into tangential motion, which in turn rotates a rotor to which the gas turbine bucket 10 is attached. Proximate an outer tip 14 of the airfoil 12 is disposed a tip shroud 16. The tip shroud 16 includes a seal rail 18 that extends generally along the outer tip 14 of the airfoil 12, and therefore along the tip shroud 16.

The turbine system includes a plurality of rows of circumferentially aligned turbine buckets 10. The seal rail 18 extends circumferentially around at least one of the plurality of rows, beyond the airfoil 12 sufficiently to relatively match up with seal rails 18 provided at the outer tip 14 of adjacent airfoils 12, thereby blocking flow from bypassing the row so that airflow must be directed to the length of the airfoil 12, ensuring more efficient rotation of the rotor.

The airfoil 12 rotates in a direction 20 about an axial centerline 22 of the turbine system. A tangential axis 24 and an axial axis 26 at the outer tip 14 of the airfoil 12 are formed relative to the direction 20 of rotation of the outer tip 14. The axial axis 26 extends in the axial direction of the turbine system and is parallel to the axial centerline 22. Additionally, a radial axis 27 extends in a longitudinal direction of the airfoil 12, and specifically an axis extending radially outward from the axial centerline 22 toward the tip shroud 16.

During operation of the turbine system, such as steady-state operation, the turbine buckets 10 and the tip shrouds 16 are subjected to significant forces and thermal stresses that result in asymmetric deflections of the tip shrouds 16. Such asymmetric deflections of the tip shrouds 16 cause misalignment between adjacent tip shrouds 16, resulting in inefficiency and/or stress imbalance which can lead to material creep.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the tip shroud 16 is assembled in a cold, non-operating condition, such that it is configured to be tilted about the axial axis 26. The tip shroud 16 includes a front region 28 and a rear region 30, with respect to the direction 20 of rotation of the airfoil 12. The direction and magnitude of tilt of the tip shroud 16 is determined by the application of use and is set based on experimentation and analysis showing the magnitude and direction of deflection occurring under various operating conditions. In the illustrated example, the tip shroud 16 is tilted forwardly in a cold, non-operating condition, such that the front region 28 is closer to the rotor or axial centerline 22 of the turbine system than the rear region 30, however, this forward tilting is merely for illustrative purposes and it should be appreciated that rearward tilting is contemplated. During operation of the turbine bucket 10, such as steady-state operation, for example, the tip shroud 16 rotates due to the previously described forces and thermal loads imposed thereon. Such pre-tilting and rotation of the tip shroud 16 reduces the degree of misalignment of adjacent tip shrouds 16 during operation. Pre-tilting results in advantageous alignment of adjacent tip shrouds 16.

Referring to FIG. 4, in addition to tilting about the axial axis 26, the tip shroud 16 is assembled in a cold, non-operating condition, such that it is configured to be tilted about the tangential axis 24. The tip shroud 16 includes an upstream region 32 and a downstream region 34. As is the case with any tilt about the axial axis 26, the direction and magnitude of tilt of the tip shroud 16 about the tangential axis 24 is determined by the application of use. In the illustrated example, the tip shroud 16 is tilted in an upstream direction, such that the upstream region 32 is closer to the rotor or axial centerline 22 of the turbine system than the downstream region 34, however, this upstream tilting is merely for illustrative purposes and it should be appreciated that downstream tilting is contemplated. Similar to the effect of tilting about the axial axis 26, tilting about the tangential axis 24 reduces the degree of misalignment between components. Additionally, the tip shroud 16 is pre-twisted about the radial axis 27, such that desirable orientation of the tip shroud 16 occurs during operation of the turbine bucket 10. The degree of angling (e.g., tilting, twisting, etc.) may vary based on the application, however, it is contemplated that such angles will range between +/−10 degrees in either direction of rotation about a respective axis, and more typically between +/−5 degrees in either direction of rotation.

The tip shroud 16 may take on various configurations and features, including a recess 40 proximate the rear region 30 of the tip shroud 16 that is configured to allow a protrusion 42 from the front region 28 of an adjacent tip shroud 16 to optionally be disposed therein. Such an arrangement permits the rotational movement of the tip shrouds 16 relative to one another during operation of the turbine bucket 10.

As described above, it is advantageous to pre-tilt or pre-twist the tip shroud 16 to account for deformations that occur during operation of the turbine bucket 10, particularly about multiple axes, such as the axial axis 26, the radial axis 27 and the tangential axis 24. Alternatively, it is contemplated that only one pre-tilting or pre-twisting may be imposed and is determined by the application of use, and additionally more than two axes may be rotated about. The tip shroud 16 merely need be rotated about some axis that is offset in any direction from that of the axial centerline 22. This refers to axes of rotation that are shifted radially, tangentially, or axially from the axial centerline 22. The tip shroud 16 is configured such that it may deflect into a relatively planar member during steady-state operation and oriented within a plane tangential to the outer tip 14 of the airfoil 12.

Irrespective of the precise tip shroud 16 configuration, it should be appreciated that several advantages are attained by such an assembly. Steady-state alignment of the seal rails 18 occurs when the tip shroud 16 is an operating position upon rotation of the airfoil at a predetermined speed. Alignment of the seal rails 18 leads to lower overall flow path leakage, such as through a honeycomb-shaped casing surface located radially outward of the seal rail 18. Additionally, stress states in the tip section of the airfoil 12 are balanced and the potential for disengagement is reduced. These and other advantages are achieved by the tip shroud 16 disclosed herein.

While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A tip shrouded blade comprising: an airfoil rotatable about an axial centerline; and a tip shroud connected at a radially outer tip of the airfoil, wherein the tip shroud includes at least one portion angled about a tangential axis defined by the radially outer tip of the airfoil.
 2. The tip shrouded blade of claim 1, wherein the tip shroud further includes at least one portion rotated about a radial axis defined by a longitudinal direction of the airfoil.
 3. The tip shrouded blade of claim 2, wherein the tip shroud is configured to moveably adjust to an operating position upon rotation of the airfoil at a predetermined speed, wherein the tip shroud is substantially oriented in a plane tangential to the radial axis when in the operating position.
 4. The tip shrouded blade of claim 1, wherein the tip shroud is angled about an axial axis, wherein the axial axis is relatively parallel to the axial centerline, wherein the tip shroud includes a front region and a rear region, wherein the front region is closer in proximity to the axial centerline than the rear region.
 5. The tip shrouded blade of claim 1, wherein the tip shroud is angled about the tangential axis by between about 2 degrees and about 10 degrees.
 6. The tip shrouded blade of claim 2, wherein the tip shroud is angled about a tangential axis, wherein the tip shroud includes an upstream region and a downstream region, wherein the upstream region is closer in proximity to the axial centerline than the downstream region.
 7. The tip shrouded blade of claim 2, wherein the tip shroud is angled about the radial axis by between about 2 degrees and about 10 degrees.
 8. A tip shrouded blade comprising: an airfoil extending away from and rotatable about an axial centerline; and a tip shroud provided at a tip of the airfoil, wherein the tip shroud is tilted about a tangential axis and twisted about a radial axis.
 9. The tip shrouded blade of claim 8, wherein the tip shroud is configured to moveably adjust to an operating position upon rotation of the airfoil at a predetermined speed, wherein the tip shroud is substantially oriented in a plane tangential to a radial axis when in the operating position.
 10. The tip shrouded blade of claim 8, wherein the tip shroud is angled about an axial axis, wherein the axial axis is relatively parallel to the axial centerline, wherein the tip shroud includes a front region and a rear region, wherein the front region is closer in proximity to the axial centerline than the rear region.
 11. The tip shrouded blade of claim 8, wherein the tip shroud is tilted about the tangential axis by between about 2 degrees to about 10 degrees.
 12. The tip shrouded blade of claim 8, wherein the tip shroud includes an upstream region and a downstream region, wherein the upstream region is closer in proximity to the axial centerline than the downstream region.
 13. The tip shrouded blade of claim 8, wherein the tip shroud is twisted about the radial axis by between about 2 degrees and about 10 degrees.
 14. A turbine system having at least one row of circumferentially aligned tip shrouded blades comprising: a first turbine bucket having a first airfoil; a first tip shroud provided at an outer tip of the first airfoil, wherein the first tip shroud is angled about a tangential axis defined by the outer tip of the first airfoil; a second turbine bucket having a second airfoil disposed adjacent to the first airfoil; and a second tip shroud provided at an outer tip of the second airfoil, wherein the second tip shroud is angled to correspond to the first tip shroud during a steady-state operation of the turbine system.
 15. The turbine system of claim 14, wherein the first tip shroud is angled about a radial axis defined by the longitudinal direction of the first airfoil.
 16. The turbine system of claim 14, wherein the first tip shroud is angled about an axial axis, wherein the first tip shroud and the second tip shroud each include a front region and a rear region, wherein the front region is closer in proximity to an axial centerline than the rear region.
 17. The turbine system of claim 14, wherein the tip shroud is angled about the tangential axis by between about 2 degrees and about 10 degrees.
 18. The turbine system of claim 17, wherein the first tip shroud and the second tip shroud are each angled about a tangential axis, wherein the first tip shroud and the second tip shroud each include an upstream region and a downstream region, wherein the upstream region is closer in proximity to the axial centerline than the downstream region.
 19. The turbine system of claim 15, wherein the tip shroud is angled about the radial axis by between about 2 degrees and about 10 degrees.
 20. The turbine system of claim 17, wherein the front region of the second tip shroud extends into a recess of the rear portion of the first tip shroud. 